the Artful Dodger returns
by Momo9357
Summary: A simple Whim that leads to a deep discussion. . . RoryxJess post-finale, basically just things I knew should have been said between the two of them.
1. Chapter 1

**_My first story -ever- so please go easy on me, I assure you this is only the first chapter and I hope there will at least bit a couple more._**

**_Jess and Rory are by far my favorite couple so that's why I choose to write about them, I'm a total Literatei so keep that in mind as you read this._**

**_Please comment and tell me what you think :3 I love feedback._**

**_I own -nothing-._**

Jess Mariano, a boy most of those in Stars Hollow still remembered as the jerk that hurt their dear Rory's arm and left without a word. . . a guy that really everyone in town had thrown a party when he had supposedly left for good. . . Yep, that guy, that guy was now once again walking down the sidewalk towards Luke's Diner, after stepping out of his much nicer-looking car. Though really it was the same car he had before, simply with a much snapper paint-job, which he had paid for with all the money he was earning nowadays because of his book "The Subsect." The sequal of which he was supposed to write soon but simply couldn't figure out what to write about.

The Diner of course looked the same as it always had, he sort of appreciated that, it was like the one thing in his life that had always stayed the same.  
>That dang Diner, even after being painted, and even after getting half of if it barreled through by Taylor's car (Kirk at the wheel of course) still looked exactly the same. He really was starting to believe his Uncle was the only man more stubborn than he himself was. . . which is why of course they hardly ever got along. Also the same reason perhaps that they got along the few times they had.<p>

Ever since he had started driving towards Stars Hollow he had needed to remind himself of the reason why he was going there over and over, making sure it was a good and decent reason, if the reason didn't make sense he felt almost like pulling a u-turn right there on the highway. . . The reason he had of course was to see his uncle, nothing more nothing less. . . The reason he had -thought- to visit his uncle in the first place was because that morning when he woke up he simply felt it, he remembered that it was exactly seven years ago that day when he had come to Stars Hollow and first met his uncle Luke. . . why on earth he would remember such a thing was beyond him of course, even more confusing was why on earth he cared, but nevertheless he had in fact remembered and since he hadn't seen or heard from Luke in quite a while he had on somewhat of a whim decided to come visit. . . that's -all-.

Well at least that was what he had been telling himself, over and over, until, he saw a few whisps of reddish-brown hair, followed by a pair of the brightest blue eyes,he could never forget, he had never truly seen their equal. It was Rory Gilmore.  
>For a moment he became frozen to where he was standing, his own dark caramel colored eyes wide for a moment as he nervously ran his hand quickly through his dark brown hair.<br>A habit Rory recognized immediately.  
>Looking down then he took a small step backwards, wishing he owned a pair of running shoes as apposed to his old converse, shoving his hands into the pockets on his jeans, the wind suddenly feeling much cooler even though he was wearing his green sweater.<p>

Rory had of course just left Luke's Diner after getting a cup of coffee, her mother had left earlier to go to work and she had simply hung around a while to chit-chat with Lane, having plenty to talk about since she had been gone for a couple years after college following the Obama campagn.  
>The last thing, the last -person- she had been expecting to see was Jess. . . Her own blue eyes widening as well when she first saw him, almost dropping her coffee on the sidewalk as she stood perfectly still, sporting her classic 'Deer caught in headlights' expression.<br>Her hair was straight and long, though currently up in a pony-tail since she had felt rather lazy that morning and hadn't felt like doing much with it. . .  
>She herself was wearing a brown slightly fuzzy jacket over a light pink t-shirt, a jean skirt around knee-length covering the upper part of her legs whilst a pair of knee-high red cashmere socks and brown fuzzy boots covered the lower part.<p>

His reaction to seeing her was understandable, and she knew it, after how she had treated him in Philadelphia last time they saw one another. . . She had used him, if only for a little while, she had used him for revenge on Logan. . . Which, as Jess remembered that incident he slowly turned his head to look at her, seeing the expression on her face, the thumping in his heart getting louder though he managed to keep his composure, waiting for her to say something. His feet beginning to move backwards again, feeling the need to run, to bolt.

She had used him, and she knew it, she realized just how awful that had been of her to do, using Jess to get even with a guy she now actually remembered with a little bit of bitterness.  
>Once Logan's spell had worn off and she had reverted back to herself, as Jess had correctly pointed out she -wasn't- herself with Logan, Rory had realized just how wrong it all had been, and regretted ruining her life by spending time with him, it would have been much better if she had simply never gotten involved with him and his bloody 'life and death' bragade.<br>When he looked at her again she realized he was expecting her to say something, understanding that she had to, if only to keep him from running, leaving again, it wasn't like they could walk away without saying anything, not here, not when they were standing like this and staring directly at one another, something needed to happen. . .

Jess took another step back, though now he was facing her entirely, which finally made her feel capable of spitting something out, "Jess. . . hi. . . " it sounded stupid she knew, after how she had left him the last time they had seen one another.

After hearing her speak finally he stopped moving back, if only just for now, his face was mostly hard to read, frankly seeming rather blank, though the look in his eyes spoke of hurt. "Hi", he said simply in return, he never was good at communication and such. . . unless he was talking about books or music one basically had to shake him to get him to say more than perhaps two words at a time.

Well at least he had responded, which meant he didn't entirely hate her, at least, she was hoping that's what it meant. She couldn't stand the idea of him hating her, he had never hated her before. . . and the idea of him hating her bothered her beyond belief.  
>She swallowed, both eyebrows arching for a moment in confusion "Why are you here?" it was afterall the question that was right on the tip of her tongue, though perhaps not the question on the forefront of her mind.<p>

He shrugged at the question "I felt like being here" he answered simply, not feeling quite like handing out any details just yet, or maybe even ever.

Gosh she hated it when he did that, "-Why-?" she sounded a little stressed and it showed on her face, she felt. . . she didn't know how she felt right then. . . she felt stupid. . . Jess didn't deserve to get hurt by her over some guy like Logan, she now at least somewhat realized just how awful that must've felt for him, she realized why he had been so angry and yelled at her. . . She realized how right all his words had been.

_"Jess wait, Jess. . . I'm sorry."  
>"We shouldn't have done this."<br>"He's just been in a bad mood lately."  
>"He's a -jerk-."<br>"He was. . . In there -defenantally-. I'm sooo sorry."  
>"I read that guy the -second- I saw him, I should've begged off. . . "<br>"I didn't want you to!"  
>"He'd -better- not come out here!"<br>"Please Jess. . . He had a lot to drink, he's tired from traveling. This isn't him, I -swear-."  
>. . . "What the hell is going on?"<br>"I told you. . . he's tired and his family's buggin' him right now-"  
>"I mean with -you-, what's going on with -you-?"<br>"What do you mean?"  
>"You -know- what I mean! I know you better than anyone! -This- isn't -you-."<br>"I don't know. . . "  
>"What are you -doing-? Living at your -grandparent's- place? being in the DAR? Yale. . . -Why- did you drop out of -YALE-?"<br>"It's complicated. . . "  
>"It's -not- ,it's -not- complicated!"<br>"You don't know!"  
>"This isn't -you-! -This-, going out with this -jerk- with a porche? we used to make fun of guys like this!"<br>"You caught him on a bad night!"  
>"This ISN'T ABOUT HIM! SCREW HIM! this is about -you-, what's going on with -you-? . ."<br>*silence*  
>"This isn't you Rory, and you know it isn't, what's going on?"<br>*more silence . . . they stare at one another*  
>". . . I don't know. . . "<em>

Jess and Rory both remembered that discussion rather well . . . for a moment he even forgot about her question as he remembered yelling at her like that, it had felt so weird. Usually -he- was the one messing up. . . That's what had made him so utterly furious. . . Seeing her like that had made him almost want to -murder- that blond-haired jackass. . . murder him for ruining Rory, the girl he admired, respected. . . loved.  
>"Figure it out" he answered, shrugging a little, forcing her to use her brain, as if he was just trying to see if she had gotten the full usage of her brain back. . .<p>

Her brain excepted the challenge, relishing the opportunity to work again after so many years of being told to shut up . . . It took Rory a while to think about it, though once she thought about the weather, the time of year and memories of Jess while he was here (which were flooding back into her mind so quickly she felt about three times heavier), it became quite clear, and her eyes widened a little, her lips curling into a smile as she was now sure she had figured it out, "This is the day you first came to Stars Hollow, right?. . . Dodger~."

He smiled a little at the answer, eyes glimmering a little with moisture that was building up, not the type ot tears that would fall down one's face, simply the beginning's the the type of the tears that cause one's vision to fog up.  
>He nodded, backing up quickly before turning on his heels and heading back to his car, almost like he had simply gotten what he had came for. . . That andor the nickname was bringing back memories that he couldn't bear to remember. . .

No, he was -leaving-? she guessed right. . . so. . . why? "Wait! didn't you want to see Luke?" she followed after him, assuming that was his reason for coming to the diner.

Jess stopped in front of his car door, turning to look at her "I guess, seeing him was kinda the idea when I left Philadelphia. . . or that was the stupid excuse I had for coming back here. . . I can't though, not again."

She was no fool, she had some idea of what he meant by that, yet she wasn't entirely sure so, "What can't you do?" she asked there were several answers she had floating around in her mind.

"I can't go through that whole -us seeing each other, warm fuzzies, and then you running off with a jerk again- thing. . . I said it once and I'll say it again, I don't deserve that. . . neither do you" he got ready to open the car door.

"Jess, that doesn't have to happen every time we see each other, I don't want it to, and it's not going to, I'm not running off to someone else after this" she said moving closer to him, setting her cup of coffee down on the roof of his car, since it was to much to try and hold it currently.

His hand moved away from the door handle and went back into his pocket before his eyes turned to look at her, "No more jerk with the porche?"

"Nope" she said simply, though she hated remembering Logan really, he did in fact break her heart rather brutally, sure, the guy wasn't -all- bad she believed, he was there for her in some trying times, but, quite often he was the one -causing- those trying times to occur in the first place. . . . And Jess, Jess had broken her heart as well, but, oddly enough, even though he had left her, he always seemed to come back, he always seemed to be there, in a way nobody else had, and when she saw him like this, her heart didn't feel nearly as broken as it had felt, like he was slowly, carefully trying to tape it back together.

He nodded a little at the new information the side of his mouth twitching upwards into a tiny smirk before going back to normal, he looked around town once again, seeing the old gazebo in the not-so-far distance, "Wanna go for a walk?" he asked, dropping the 'Logan' subject for now.

Rory blinked at the question. . . How could they possibly go on a walk for any long duration of time without having some -seriously- uncomfortable subjects come up? it wasn't like they were kids anymore, and even then, their conversations were never light and fluffy, or rather they were never -stupid- and pointless. . . and it would be hard to try and have a light and fluffy conversation with him now, -especially- now, with all that had happened. . . She knew for certain she would end up asking about -something- that would make them both uncomfortable. . . . Maybe though, that was the point, but if it was, then it was something that needed to happen. If he was asking her to walk so that they could -finally- clear all the air of lies and mysterious then it was something she not only had to do, but sort of wanted to do. She wanted to know, to know why he left, to know why it was that they just -never- seemed to be at the same place at the same time. . . She also wanted to know if perhaps, they were finally at the same place, at the same time, with the same feelings.  
>"Sure, sounds good" she said with a smile and a nod picking up her coffee from the top of his car.<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, chapter 2~ Took me a while, I just couldn't seem to get it rolling but hopefully it turned out okay in the end.**

**Please Review :3 your reviews are what get me to keep writing.**

**I own -nothing-! . . . sad isn't it?**

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Jess and Rory then walked, the beginning of which they were silent, both thinking of things they could talk about, most of which were things both weren't sure it'd be good to actually discuss. It wasn't until they reached the gazebo that either of them said anything, Rory being the first once again, she was afterall more of a talker than Jess was.  
>"I know this isn't probably something you want to talk about," she started, taking a sip of her coffee, the memory of them kissing and stumbling about by the gazebo popping into her mind, the memory so clear it was as if it were yesterday that it had happened, "But Jess, I need to know. . . I need to know why you left. I've heard things from other people about what was going on with you, rumors, ideas, but I need to know what happened, I need -you- to tell me what happened" she looked at him, her blue eyes observing him closely.<p>

Jess bit his lip a little shaking his head before he stopped doing both and looked back at her, his eye showed that he had in fact been expecting this question, "My dad came to see me, and left, without saying anything, I guess it sort of runs in the family. . . I was mad at him, and to top it all off I found out that I was flunking out of highschool, they wouldn't even let me buy tickets for the prom. . . which is why I was mad that night at the party, it wasn't your fault, you didn't do anything. . . I followed you to tell you that, but then Dean. . . well you know what happened. . . "

Rory's brows furrowed together as she listened, her lips pressing together tightly as they did when she was thinking on something truly important, "Why didn't you tell me this all -before-? . . . Jess you -left- and you never told me -anything-, you always hid things from me, and sorry but I'm not going to let you just say it 'runs in the family' and just be cool with it, you have to tell me . . . why?"

This conversation really wasn't going to be easy on him was it? He took a deep breath looking away from her this time when he answered, "I didn't want you to know how much of a failure I was, how much of a loser my dad is, or how lame I had thought my future was going to be. . . . you deserved better than me, and it scared me okay? it scared me that you were going off to some big college where there'd be -tons- of better guys that could offer you -way- more than I ever could. . . "

"But Jess you -aren't- a failure, you never -were- a failure. . . I didn't ever -say- I thought you were one did I?. . . you're dad might be a loser for leaving you, but that sure doesn't mean you're a loser. . . " It was weird, hearing Jess admit to being scared, Rory wasn't exactly sure how to handle it, she of course wasn't under any elusions that he -couldn't- be scared, she just had never heard him admit that he did in fact feel fear. "The college guys -really- weren't all that great, and certainly not better than you" she said, meaning it truly, Logan was the best there, and now that she thought about it, he didn't even come close to Jess, in smarts, in quirks, and on the scale of how much she felt for the both of them, Logan fell extremely short.

"Oh? Well you seemed to think that the jerk with the porche was better than me, you -chose- him over me afterall" Jess replied, more than a bit of bitterness and anger coming out with that.

Rory didn't know how to respond to that right away, her bright blue eyes widening a little and once again she almost dropped her cup of coffee. . . "I . . . " She honestly couldn't think of anything to defend herself with, she, a Gilmore, had been struck silent.

Jess stopped walking, staring at her for a while before taking a deep breath and shaking his head again, "I'm sorry Rory I just can't do this, I can't let you be little miss innocent anymore, I know you're not an angel but frankly I never took you for Satan's mistress either. . . Are you really the Rory I fell in love with seven years ago? Or am I looking at the future bride of Lucifer?"

"I told you I'm not -with- Logan anymore!" She knew what he was doing, he was making her chose, making her chose him, or not chose him, he did it before, when he asked her to run away with him, it was an all-or-nothing deal. . . funny really how Jess and her mother were alike in such things.

"Aha! So you -admit- that he was Satan" He caught her on that one, "and just because you're not with him now doesn't mean you'll ditch me for him anyway, you said 'no' to me and had a little party in the bedroom with Dean, who I heard was -married-, afterall."

Her eyes were practically the size of plates, did he just imply what she -thought- he just implied? "Dean wasn't. . . I mean, he was but, look I. . . I'm not going back to Logan, frankly I don't even know where he -is- let alone -care-, and Dean soooo doesn't need to be brought into this conversation."

"I think he does. . . I'm sorry rory but did you really hate me -that- much? that you'd really sleep with a -married- guy rather than be with me? I mean, I know now that I certainly wasn't ready to handle running away with you to God-knows-where, but if you had said you at least wanted to be with me I would've stayed here in Stars Hollow, all you had to do was say so." He would've probably gone or stayed anywhere she wanted him to if she had said she'd be there with him. . .

"I was confused okay! Dean was there and I . . . He seemed so unhappy with Lindsey, and I don't know. . . It just happened!" Jess had shown up out of nowhere, asking her to leave everything behind and go off with him, jump into the future. Dean was suddenly back in her life as well, oddly enough at the same time, asking her to come -back- to everything, sink back into the past.  
>The past was something she knew, something she was familiar with, it wasn't scary like the future was, the future was something where anything could happen. With the past she knew the steps, she knew what to expect. . . Jess was asking for a whole new dance, asking her to do something completely unexpected when he asked her to run away with him like that.<p>

Jess had to fight the urge to go back to his car and drive off, he hated having this dicussion with Rory like this, he didn't -want- to know why she did it, not really, he especially didn't want to hear her think up excuses for -Dean-, "-WhatEVER- " classic response from Jess Mariano, "Do us both a favor Rory and -don't- even -try- think up any good excuses for why Dean did what he did okay? There really aren't any. . . "

Sadly Rory knew Jess was right, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't think up any good excuses for Dean, all the excuses that she could think of all sounded truly stupid.  
>His marriage sucked? Well cheating on his wife certainly didn't help that.<br>He didn't love Lindsey? Then it was sort of jerk-ish of him to marry her. . .  
>Lindsey couldn't cook? Neither could she, and at least Lindsey tried. . . Crap, she could literally think of -nothing-.<br>Lindsey was the sweetest girl Rory could think of really, and Dean married her, treated her rather badly now that she thought about it, and ultimately cheated on Lindsey with . . . her. . .  
>She nodded after thinking on that for a while, "You're right. . . " she felt rather awful saying it, but admitting it was stupid what she did with Dean was something she needed to do, to take a step into the future, which, she was a little more ready to embrace.<p>

Jess started walking again his usual smirk appearing briefly at hearing that, "Well then, now that we've covered almost -everything- maybe we could take a break from delving into the past and at -least- focus on the present."

Rory grinned a little "Sounds good . . . You first, what is Jess Mariano doing these days?" she -really- wanted the focus to be off of her and her relationship mistakes.

Jess shrugged "Basically the same thing I was doing last time we talked, I'm supposed to be working on a sequel right now actually, I just -can't- think of what to write about, I mean, The Subsect was well. . . it was my life. . . and writing a sequel to -my life- just isn't easy. . . besides that I'm still where I was, sharing an apartment with -two- guys, both of which are -insane- and not the good kind either, and working in a book store, which, I honestly actually enjoy. . . which makes living with the two insane guys sorta worth it."

Rory tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear as she listened to him, after hearing it all though, she couldn't help but notice something. . . no girls . . . no -women- were mentioned at -all-, "No girl? . . . I mean. . . doesn't at least -one- of your roomates have a girlfriend or something?" Quick save, she couldn't believe herself, how she had almost asked if -he- had a girlfriend. . . no. . . nope, she wouldn't do that. . .

Jess saw right through her of course, sort of like that slip-up she had years ago when she had asked him to be nice to her mother, 'if you like me at -all-', the memory made him smirk again, the look on his face almost identical to that of the one he had all those years ago, "Nope, none of us have any girlfriend's or anything, but if you knew the guys better you wouldn't be all that surprised, they kinda scream -DORK-."

That earned a small laugh from Rory, but really her insides were doing backflips, for some reason she was happy he didn't have a girlfriend, but, she wasn't even going to -try- and pretend she didn't know why. . . However, she couldn't help but wonder. . . Why was it that Jess was -always- single? After he left years ago, every time they ran into one another after that, there was never a girl, heck, from what she could tell, he didn't even look -interested- in any girls around. . . She hated to think it, but, she couldn't help but wonder, was he -waiting- for someone? . . . What she hated to think even more was, could it be, that he was still waiting for -her-? "You're not a dork though last I checked, Mr. To-Cool-For-School. . . What, are the girl's in Philly really -that- awful?"

"Not cool Gilmore, how come you chose -now- to learn how to boil water?" His heart hurt, walking with her like this, did she -really- have no idea? No, she wasn't stupid, and she'd have to be a complete idiot to not get it by now. . . Which meant she was playing with him. . . it was painful, and it showed in his eyes as he glanced over at her.

Rory swallowed her stupidity after hearing his response to her question, she was doing it again wasn't she? Playing with him. . . "I know this may be hard to believe Jess but I actually -can- cook now. . . I'm no Rachel Ray but I can do more than boil water. . . " the words stumbled out of her mouth, though she knew full well that wasn't what he meant.

This actually angered Jess, and it was quite obvious, as he wasn't good at hiding that particular emotion, "Don't be stupid Rory! You're -not- stupid so why is it you're pretending to be right now? Huh?" He ran his hand through his hair, a classic move he did fairly often, especially when he was upset. . . which in the past was quite often. . .

Gosh the whole 'walking' thing was turning into something -way- more than that, sure, she knew it wouldn't just be a walk when he suggested it in the first place, but golly gee, some of these things they had been talking about were things that they had avoided talking about for . . . years. . . "Jess. . . please tell me you've dated other girls since me. . . please tell me you haven't been waiting this whole time. . . " she actually didn't want to hear that he had in fact dated other girls, but, on the other hand she didn't want to hear he'd been waiting either, she couldn't handle knowing that, if she felt awful -before-, she knew she'd feel at least twice as bad about everything if she knew that he was waiting. . . through everything. . . waiting. . . for her.


End file.
